THE Fog Of War

Product Details

Academy Award®-winner for Best Documentary Feature, THE FOG OF WAR is the story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense, under President Kennedy and President Johnson, Robert S. McNamara. McNamara was one of the most controversial and influential political figures of the 20th century. Now - for the first time ever - he sits down one on one with award-winning director Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line) to offer a candid and intimate journey through some of the most seminal events in contemporary American history. As leader of the world's most powerful military force during this nation's most volatile period in recent years, McNamara offers new and often surprising insights into the 1945 bombing of Tokyo, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the effects of the Vietnam War. Featuring newly released Oval Office recorded conversations with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, THE FOG OF WAR received critical acclaim for its up-close and personal insider perspective. See the film that Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times) hailed as "a masterpiece!"

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Rated 5 out of
5 by
Jane_Mattei from
Enlightening and satisfyingFor those of us who lived through these events to finally be able to hear a first-hand account of what the people in power were actually thinking is both enlightening and satisfying. Furthermore, I can think of no one better qualified than Robert McNamara to tell the story. As a Baby Boomer growing up in the U.S. and Canada my understanding of these events was shaped, sometimes limited, by what was reported in the media. Journalism was very much a fact-based activity at that time. Journalists reported results but paid little attention to process. The nuances of how decisions were arrived at was not something reporters asked or spokesmen volunteered. It was the original "don't ask, don't tell" style of reporting. My other source of information was the people I knew; my parents, family, teachers, neighbours, friends in and of both countries. We had regular air raid drills in my elementary school. The DEW-line was being built to protect us from Russian atomic bombs. I watched President Kennedy's television address about Cuba having nuclear missiles. A year later I came home for lunch one day to hear the radio announcement that he had been assassinated in Dallas. I watched the Vietnam war on television every evening. I knew draft dodgers, deserters and Vietnam veterans from both countries. And as I got older, I began to know what I thought about some of these things. I didn't always agree with the policy-makers and politicians. We no longer need to ask "What were they thinking?" Now we have the opportunity to understand not only what they were thinking but who was thinking it and why, as well as how the group dynamics worked. How the personalities influenced the results that we have all lived -- and died -- with ever since.